Let's look at how you unearth your unique promise of value as well as look at your values, vision, purpose and passions. Your personal brand is your unique promise of value or your value proposition. It is what you are known for. Think of Volvo, they are know for safety or Apple is know for thinking different. Basically it is where your reputation precedes you. It is your calling card. These five steps will help you uncover your unique value proposition:

Take a close look at the following:

1. Vision/Purpose
2. Values
3. Visual
4. Voice
5. Variety

This part takes some real soul searching and time. When I did these exercises it was grueling and I had to really slow up and take some deep personal reflection time. It is hard work, but no pain no gain as they say.

Before you can clearly describe your personal brand, you need to look at the bigger picture: your vision and purpose. Your vision is external. It is what you see as possible for the world. Your purpose is internal. It is your role in the bigger picture. Joseph Murphy, author of "The Power Of The Subconscious Mind," says, "We go where our vision is." Write down your vision and purpose. One of the best ways to do these deeper exercises is to get off somewhere by yourself that is quiet and just start writing, or what we call brainstorming. Write the first thoughts that come to mind with no order or pre-judgment. Then you can go back and add or delete and rank order them.

Some questions to ask:

Where do you see yourself in one year, three years and five years?
What does all this mean to you?
What are your goals that go along with the above time frames?
What do I absolutely love to do?
What excites me the most? What would I do even if I did not get paid?

Values: The values you believe will be at the core of your branding message. They are your operating principles and your belief system. Some examples include: intelligence, integrity, flexibility, independence, honesty and family.

Some value questions to consider:

What do you believe?
What is the most important thing you want others to know about you?
What are you passionate about?
What is non-negotiable?

Visual is also a part of your ongoing brand. This will be important as you start to push your brand and image out to the marketplace. It even considers your dress and favorite colors, along with a consistent visual logo and your motto.

Some questions to consider:

What do you like?
What colors do you like and use? Why? Is it consistent with you vision and values?
How do you portray your visuals?
What other imagery do you like or use?

Voice questions to consider:

What words do you use when you talk about who you are? In what tones?
Are you articulate and do you have a good command of the English language?
Do you use slang when you speak or write?

Variety: Are you getting your personal brand out to share with others? It does you no good to create a brand if you are going to keep it a secret. Here are some ways to get your brand out in a variety of ways.

Write articles - EzineArticles is one of the best tools out there
Blogging
Podcasting
Syndicated Articles
Video Casting
Public Speaking
Community Service

Building a brand takes time and must be consistently repeated it over and over in every marketing piece, every presentation, the Internet, your resume, even your dress.

Building a brand takes time and must be consistently repeated in every marketing piece, every presentation, the Internet, your resume, and even your dress. William Arruda, who co-authored with Kirsten Dixson "Career Distinction," says, "What makes you unique, makes you successful." Dixson says, "Building your brand online gets you noticed in the real world."

Here Are Some Final Helpful Tips To Breaking Through The Barriers And Branding YOU, Inc.

Twelve Ways to Maintain Career Distinction*:

1. Know Yourself - Know who you are and be self aware.
2. Flaunt Your Quirks - Differentiate yourself. Be different and accentuate it.
3. Maximize your strengths - Be the best at something.
4. Google yourself regularly - Know and manage your online reputation.
5. Ask for feedback - Seek to find out how others perceive you.
6. Be a connector - Make sure people see you as the nucleus in every organization you're helping to grow.
7. Think big - Have big dreams - take the steps.
8. Keep refining - Never be happy with things as they are. Be a lifelong learner.
9. Define your own crowd - Know your competitors so you can use your uniqueness to stand out.
10. Give to your network - The law of reciprocity is to give before you receive. It will come back sevenfold.
11. Mark everything you do - Put a piece of you into everything you do - every phone call, e-mail, meeting, and personal interaction.
12. Be a confident communicator - Demonstrate your conviction, passion and confidence in all your communications.
*Source: Arruda, W., & Dixson, K. (2007) Career Distinction. Hoboken, N.J.: John Wiley and Sons, Inc.

We are the ones who are responsible for our own brand. As your brand grows stronger, you will find that folks associate you with what you have delivered in your authentic personal brand. As your brand matures, you will start to see valuable results as people will be drawn to you.

We all have a brand, whether we like it or not. The question is, do you have the brand you really want? Remember what's most important as you build your brand ... HAVE FUN!

If you would like my FREE e-book on Branding - Grab your copy today at http://breakingthroughthebarriersnow.com//branding_wp1.html